Reawakening
by GunPowder
Summary: Alternate Universe, Yaoi, Rated for Language and Sexual Situations, Bakura was ripped from this reality during Battle City so what happens when Malik and Marik attempt to bring him back?


**Chapter One: Dream, Hatred, Reality, and Regret**

Night after Night, he relived the same scene in his head; in the depths of his dreams…no… nightmares; why had he just sat there and done nothing? He'd wake from a troubled sleep and still see the remains for just a few moments before they faded into the soft blue of his bedroom walls, same as it was now; the time that on the bedside clock claimed the hour to be five in the evening, the hope of having a restful nap in between school and the weekend dashed.

Sliding out from beneath the sheets of a normally comfortable bed, the Egyptian just sat on the edge of the mattress, hanging a sweaty blond head in his hands.

He could see it so well, even when awake now, the image burned the backs of his eyelids and he could see and hear the voice of that accursed pharaoh proclaiming the other's demise. Though it had been near to a year since then, it still weighed so heavily on the Malik's mind, something that wasn't ever far from the surface and often gave him the look of spacing out.

Being the case now as he couldn't recall why he'd woken up in the first place, that was until Marik, his own Yami, opened the door to his room and asked if he was ready to go, a vaguely annoyed look on his severe face at Malik just sitting there.

"Come on, we need to go, Hikari, that pizza isn't going to wait for us."

Still buttoning up his own shirt in the process of talking, he waited till the tired looking blond nodded and moved to grab the shirt he had discarded before his nap. Yes, he was coming. But only because Marik had said he needed to get out more often. Going out wasn't that much of an option for Malik anymore…ever since the loss of his lover, he'd been quiet and withdrawn, not the loud, happy person anymore that was out every night having a party somewhere.

They arrived at the pizza parlor about ten minutes past the half hour, sliding into the empty side of the booth just after Marik, offering a small smile in greeting as he was offered the platter of slowly cooling pizza that sat in front of them on the table, to which he just shook his head.

"No…I'm not hungry"

The other set of Yami and Hikari, Atemu and Yuugi, exchanged a glance with each other. Yuugi setting his pizza down and licking his lips free of sauce before leaning halfway over the table, easier now that he had finally hit a growth spurt, though he was still a deal shorter than the others; laying a hand on his friend's arm, worry evident in those clear violet eyes.

"Malik…are you alright?"

The blond had been stirring his coke idly, flinching harshly when he was touched, and looked up like a deer caught in the headlights of on-coming traffic. Blinking at the three persons…well, two since Marik had the sense to just continue eating, staring at him like an oddity.

Yuugi, with his multi-colored hair shimmering underneath the lights, canted his head to offer the Egyptian a light hearted smile.

"You're zoning out."

"I'm sorry; I didn't sleep much last night"

Smiling back lightly with a subtle rub to his left temple, he went to take a sip of the coke in front of him and stopped just short of the straw touching his mouth to blink at the door in a double take as a white-haired figure came in; for one heart-stopping moment, that figure looked so much like the one he'd lost, so much like Bakura that Malik nearly jumped out of the booth to run to him…though the illusion faded when the figure smiled and slipped into the booth next to Atemu.

It was uncanny in the way that Ryou had grown in the past year to look almost exactly like the Yami he claimed to have plagued his childhood and where Atemu was still cautious of the boy at times, especially since Ryou's attitude wasn't as gentle as before when they had met during Kaiba's battle competition, he still wasn't the Bakura that Malik knew, and missed so greatly.

So he found himself dying a thousand deaths yet again, his chest aching and head buzzing with the memory of his dreams, finally pulling himself up from the booth, and excusing himself from their company with the lame excuse of having homework to finish; the bell over the door jingling despite Malik's plight as he exited.

He left behind the four, Ryou blinking green eyes looking immediately guilty for something that he hadn't even known about.

"What happened?"

Asked in the same soft, British accented voice that he was trademarked for. It was Marik that answered him this time, looking a slight pained as he patted the white head.

"It's not your fault, kid; he's had a few rough nights lately."

Malik had stopped to lean on the outside wall of the parlor; breath harsh in his chest and a light sob tipping just at the edge of each huff, his hands trembling and tears threatening to spill from the corners of his eyes. That dream was playing again, the same one that had been haunting him on and off for the last year since the night that Bakura had been banished behind the eye of Horus. The 'Spirit of the Ring' being ripped out of Ryou and the boy crumpling to the ground with Bakura screaming out in pain as he was sucked into the black void, every time he reached a hand out for Malik, calling to him, fighting at the nothingness that leaped up to lap and feast on his soul.

"Nooo"

Malik whined, pressing the butts of his palms against closed eyes and sliding down the wall to be squatting, sobbing lightly and feeling as if his head were going to burst at any moment.

"Stop…it wasn't my fault…stop haunting me"

A hand descended on his shoulder, one that rocked Malik out of the turmoil that ran storming through his mind, when he opened his eyes and removed his hands, it was to see Atemu…that pharaoh he'd grown to hate so much…giving him a look over that spoke of wanting to lend aid.

"Are you sure that you're well? You do look pale"

The blond narrowed lavender eyes on the man that had the nerve to banish his beloved and now the gull to ask if he were alright, it made him sneer in quite the ugly manner and rip his shoulder away as if burnt, smacking it with venom in his voice as he spoke.

"Get the hell away from me, you twice damned Bastard"

Though caught himself a split second later and turned his face away to burn daggers into the sidewalk underneath him.

"I don't have anything to say to you…pharaoh"

The once god-king looked him over then rose from his knelt position, the jeans he wore righting themselves to half cover the sneakers, jacket settling nicely down to just brush against his hips; very much an improvement from the wannabe gothic style that he and Yuugi had been sporting when sharing a body before, though every bit still the royalty of long ago.

"So that's what this is about…you're thinking about Bakura again"

Recalling this to be the same treatment that he received from time to time when the young Tomb Keeper was focusing on the Spirit that he had just barely vanquished during Kaiba's Battle City Tournament the year before. There wasn't any use in trying to explain himself, so Malik merely nodded.

"Yes, I have been since you took him away from me"

Atemu sighed with an air of someone that was completely irritated with the subject, Bakura had been a thorn in just about everyone's side, and so how was it that the two blonds had formed such a connection to the wild haired former thief? Why waste the energy on missing him?

"Malik, you know that he couldn't stay, he was insane, bent on destroying more then just me, think about what would have happened if he succeeded in collecting all seven of the Sennen items…he was just too dangerous"

"So he was…but what gives you the right to decide that? You aren't a pharaoh any longer and this isn't Egypt, you aren't the be all and end all and you didn't have the right to do that to him"

His voice broke at the end of his rant and he had to rip his eyes away from the other to starve off the tears that again threatened to fall; wrapping arms around himself in a pathetic attempt to hide from the piercing gaze on him.

"If I took Yuugi away from you…maybe you'd understand better about how I'm feeling right now"

Violet eyes moved to study over Malik's slim profile, watching him, trying to gauge if that had been just a lash or an actual threat to the life of his own precious Hikari.

"I can say, with honesty, that I do know what you're going through, that thief took the people of my kingdom away, killed them without any regard…just wanted to hurt and cause me the pain of not being about to protect them, and yes, I wanted retribution…but just against him, and I obtained it."

Atemu shifted, done with the conversation and walked the few steps back to the door of the parlor, laying a hand on the handle though his eyes still watched the Egyptian carefully.

"In any case, it's best not to dwell on such thoughts; delusions of the mind aren't something to fool with, my friend."

Malik moved to stand from his squat on the sidewalk, making a show of dusting himself off and straightening his shirt before looking at Atemu, lavender locking with violet.

"We will never be friends, Atemu"

Turning his back to the other and shoving hands into the depths of his pockets, he walked away from the pharaoh, the insult left to stew in his wake.

(( Author's Note – Most Yu-GI-Oh fans know that the Ishtars were the Tomb Keepers for the Nameless Pharaoh, and even when he popped up in the modern world they still referred to him as pharaoh; so with Malik just saying Atemu at the end here, he's insulting him, making it known that he doesn't care about him, or even remotely likes him. If you like, please review ))

**Chapter Two: **


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